Stuck. In a big hole.

[SynnoveD]

Having a serious dilemma over an OC in my FFVIII fanfic.

A reader I've been talking with is constantly questioning one of the OC's motives among other things. If I post this next chapter as is, I'm almost positive they're going to message me and scream the dreaded "WTF MARY SUE!!!" that I'm trying to prevent.

I know it's just one reader out of however many who read it, but I want to get some opinions before I post. Hopefully this will help me out and give me a general perspective so I can move onto the next chapter.

So this is the part in the story when it's revealed that an OC possesses a power to heal others. It doesn't always work. When it does this power drains the OC and (very seldom) transfers memories to the person they are healing. This includes fragments of memories of other people they've healed in the past. To progress the storyline, one of the characters has been embedded with these memories.

I had decided to make this significant to the storyline because Ellone from the game had the ability to see the past. It was never explained fully, so it left it open to interpretation. She wasn't a sorceress, nor was she junctioned with any type of magic, so it's probable that other people in the FFVIII world would possess powers as well.

My biggest issue is that a big red flag for OC's is when they have the ability to heal. The only justifying to it is that It's significant to the story, not like OC is going off saying "Oh em gee, you're injured! I'm perfect at everything so let me heal you!" (Make sense?)

What I want to know is the opinion of anybody who stumbles across this thread can help me out. Since the ability has already been used in previous chapters and this is basically where they have a 'sit down and talk about it,' moment, what's the best way to approach it?

[Keith Inc.]

Wait, she has a power that doesn't always work?

That's not typically a Sue trait.

Well, look at it from the POV of trying TO write a Sue.

Her power would always work.

SHE would be the one gaining memories. Those would not be fragments, they'd be MAPQUEST instructions to the next plot point.

It would not cost her, it would restore the patient's health AND energize Sue... Well, a one in ten chance that she's so drained by the process that, like the Miri character on Star Trek TOS, using her power would risk her very life...each and every time. SO even to get a splinter out of a widdle pinkie finger, she'd have to spend two pages moralizing how the risk of healing now might mean she'll be unable to heal a more critical wound in the coming battle, but if there's a chance, she's morally compromised if she doesn't use her power...blah, blah, blah, me, me, me.

As an approach? Be unapologetic, esp. if it's a major plot point.

IF there are costs and risks, and not 'premature death scene' costly, it's not Sue.